Time stood still.
It was perfectly still.
Wei Wuyin was currently living through this version of Wei Wuyin, this version that did not fear the world and only Hell, and he felt breathless. The stagnated air, light, gravity, and mana were stifling to the apex.
"This is time?" Wei Wuyin struggled to process what he felt and what he was experiencing; he was startled to the core of his being. Whenever the Heavenly Daos froze time, Wei Wuyin had always believed that it was manipulating the power of time to slow it down to the utmost, but that wasn't it.
The time wasn't slowed at all but continuously flowed at a normal rate as easy as counting to one, two, three, to infinite. A second was still a second, minutes were still minutes, and centuries remained long centuries.
He existed in the present and solely the present. There was no past or future, or slowing or acceleration, simply a single point in time stretched out for infinite moments—the present.
"So this is Present Time Energy," Wei Wuyin's soul felt enlightened. Since becoming an Inheritor of Sin and a True Void Dragon Bloodline possessor, Wei Wuyin was constantly exposed to Present Time Energy; the Heavenly Daos manipulated it without qualms, constantly freezing space and time for every reward, every punishment, and every Temporal Reincarnator.
He's traversed into the future, time-traveling by accident, exposed to Future Time Energy, and had now experienced a baptism of Past Time Energy, allowing him to grasp three of the five essential profundities of the Law of Time.
ROAR!
The sound of Kratos' disgruntled yet imperious roar erupted, shaking the very foundation of this world. Within this roar was the thrumming of the Seed of Time Law, clearly growing with each passing second in intensity! It was being nurtured!
Suddenly, Wei Wuyin saw gossamer of silky grey light flowing everywhere. As far as the eye could see, they existed. They danced beautifully, as mesmerizing as a mermaid at sea and as unfathomable as the mysteries of the omniverse.
Wei Wuyin reached out. Still frozen in the present, his soul thrummed fiercely as his fleshy hand began to glow a faint cyan and silver light. From his fleshy hand, something began to protrude, manifesting and taking shape, eventually becoming a hand of cyan and silver light.
"My hand? Is that my soul?" Wei Wuyin was thunderously caught off-guard, and a relentless urge itched inside his heart. With a thought, he scratched that itch, his hand moving further than before and revealing the cyan and silver hand.
His soul!
Soon, he completely left this fleshy version of himself, ultimately existing as a cyan and silver silhouette of himself, a representation of his Mortal Soul. He was faceless, indistinct, and hazy. This was because the Mortal Dao's refinement was limited, reflected by the vast disparity between soulspans that the Mortal Dao, Mystic Dao, and Immortal Dao could grant.
"What's happening here? Speak to me, guys." Wei Wuyin floated between the gossamers of time, gliding upon the silky strands with utter ease. They neither rejected nor fought against him. As they danced, he danced. As they sat still, so did he.
What were his Astral Souls doing? Their actions behind the scene were clearly fraught with dangers, and they were giving it their all, but what were they trying to do here? He could already sense Past, Present, and Future Energies, the requirements to formulate his Temporal Eye to grasp time itself.
This should, by all means, signify the end of his tribulation. In truth, all he needed was to comprehend generalized time energies, resisting the flow of time that threatened to claim his life, and his Temporal Eye would naturally form. The comprehension of Past, Present, and Future Energies was a level by which he'll be able to grasp the Law of Time, comprehend the Temporal-type Mystic Rune, and execute terrifyingly powerful Temporal Arts or Divination Spells.
With his current levels of understanding in time, he should be able to mimic the Heavenly Daos, instigating a World of Perpetual Present. To outsiders, this would be the very concept of stopping time.
This was beneficial to the absolute maximum. Moreover, he noticed that the Seed of Time Law was slowly growing! In the cultivation methods of the Battlefield, it said that the artificial Seeds of War could not be nurtured into Laws, and his Seeds of Law were all natural.
He knew that should he fully grasp Isolated Energy and Paradoxical Energy at the same degree as Past, Present, and Future Energies as now, the Seed of Time Law would have been fully nurtured. What type of power will it possess?
"Don't!!!" Four voices resounded simultaneously—Ori, Eden, King, and Kratos.
They weren't talking to Wei Wuyin, yet he felt their deep strength rippling throughout his soul.
Wei Wuyin looked back at the frozen body of another version of himself, and he frowned as confusion and uncertainty filled his eyes. The hand there…did it move? That shouldn't be possible.
Just as Wei Wuyin was about to investigate further, remaining cautious of any changes, the silver eyes of the frozen Wei Wuyin exuded vast spiritual light containing the power of the past that engulfed his soul and all the gossamers of time in an instant!
The entire world crumbled before this devouring brilliance!
-----
Hundreds of unfathomable auras floated above the Time Vortex. They stared at the chasm of churning time energies, the image of absolute chaos, and distraught power.
At the forefront of this group, closer to the Time Vortex, were five figures that were gloomily gazing at it. Each of their faces was darker than the next.
Amongst these five figures, one possessed a similar unfathomable aura as those hiding behind them. That was none other than the Guardian of the Time Vortex. Of the other four, two of them were figures that Wei Wuyin would recognize.
The first was Zhangjie Wushu, the gorgeous librarian and 'hidden' expert of the Myriad Miles Library. The other was the Lord of the City of Endless and Void Voyage Sect's Sect Master, Liu Yinlan. Her expression was faintly pale, yet her eyes were piercingly sharp with a glimmer of suppressed rage that could shake the heavens.
The other two were men. One was in a suit of azure full-body armor, covered from head to toe. His facial features and physique were difficult to determine, but he was average in height and build. The other was an elderly man with a long, string-like glossy mustache that reached his chest, having a head full of grey hair tied in a bun, and he kept twirling his mustache with his index finger and thumb. He had beady eyes and a thin frame and wore violet-colored robes.
They were the Lord of the City of Guardians and the City of Voyage, respectively—Su Nianzu and Xu You.
Xu You twirled his mustache with a solemn light in his eyes, "You're saying the Time Vortex just…reversed?" His voice was ancient yet forceful, capable of terrifying little kids.
The Guardian of the Time Vortex wore a dignified expression and solemnly nodded. They were all watching as the Time Vortex, what should've been the image of absolute chaos, showed a world of order. There was no longer a power that could force a stasis state or progress one's age, but it was capable of regression. Moreover, this regression was far, far more terrifying than anything they'd seen before.
While it still had the image of chaos, of churning time energies, of distraught power, this had all changed to become a singular type of power. A wisp of consistency in chaos!
"Have you sent anyone to investigate?" Su Nianzu asked; his voice was fairly normal despite his full-body armor that resembled a being built for war, death, and slaughter. There wasn't any bloodthirstiness or righteousness in it, as if he wasn't a warrior or a guardian, merely a common man in armor.
"Those on the outskirts, sensing the power, began regressing in their cultivation base. Unless one is an Earthly Saint, just sensing the power is enough to instigate a regression event." The Guardian explained. The edges of the Time Vortex were devoid of the typical comprehending cultivators.
When the Time Vortex began to go into full reverse, those who were at the edges were instantly affected. Some had lost their entire cultivation base, losing a lifetime of effort. A few of the Ascended beings died as they underwent Cultivation Deviation. It was impossible for Ascended beings to return to the Mortal Dao—only death awaited them.
Even Cao Cuifen couldn't change her Ascended Existential Framework with her mystic-graded pellet, the Mortal Returning Pellet. That was merely a trick, a bypass to replicate the Mortal Dao's given physique and allow certain things to be possible.
"Where's Wei Wuyin?" Liu Yinlan asked after exhaling a deep, unsettled breath.
Zhangjie Wushu glanced at Liu Yinlan. Was she planning to feign ignorance?
The Guardian furrowed his brows. "This change happened shortly after he jumped into the vortex."
"..." The five of them were all aware by now that Wei Wuyin was Liu Yinlan's True Destined Voyager, the eventual and long-awaited successor to the Lord of the City of Endless. If he took the mantle, she would be capable of retiring. Considering her origins and cultivation base, she'll be able to obtain a certain degree of freedom after some concessions.
They couldn't fathom why this happened or why Liu Yinlan's True Destined Voyager had decided to jump into the Time Vortex, an act that could be considered suicidal.
"..." Liu Yinlan clenched her fists, her eyes unleashed a yin chill that contained glacial killing intent. She didn't know who she wanted to kill, simply that she wanted to kill!
RUMBLE!
Suddenly, the entire Endless Voyage Realm began to shake. All the Earthly Saints and the four with auras far surpassing theirs lifted their heads to observe the sky, the Solar Star of this world was shaking slightly.
"It's…?!" Zhangjie Wushu's eyes contracted.
Xu You's twirling became extremely intense, as if he was going to pull off his entire mustache. "It's shrinking?!" The shock in his ancient voice was profound.
-----
In the depths of the Grand Cyclic Stellar Region, in a location where the Solar Star had long since been taken away, nine Shadow Eggs concealed within the Dark Void orbited each other in a mystical formation, empowering their concealing power to a level that even ordinary Worldly Saints might find it difficult to locate.
In one of these Shadow Eggs, these enormous vehicles, a shadowy figure sat on a throne forged from mystic stones, enriched by the energies of darkness. The figure's eyes slowly opened, revealing endless stars in the vast darkness. Those eyes brightened.
"The Endless Void Mirror…" The voice was indistinct, and it was hard to determine if it was male or female, but there was a formless authority that felt impossible to resist. It contained a hint of worldly charm, touching upon the Mystic Dao.
A cloaked figure manifested before the throne-sitting figure. "We've finally located its core!" The voice contained shivering happiness despite its attempt to maintain its composure. "This is our opportunity!"
The throne-sitting figure's starry eyes began to move in a mystifying manner, and then as they sat up, a world-shaking power surged out of them, causing the light of the world to dim.
"Initiate True God's First Symphony."
"Yes—for Trueborn!" The cloaked figure vanished. The Shadow Eggs began to change their orbiting path.
"...For Trueborn." The shadowy figure softly spoke.
-----
"Where am I?" Wei Wuyin asked, his voice weak and soft.
"Who are you?" Wei Wuyin asked, his voice fierce and demanding.